Culinary Academy of South Dakota

Students will learn the cycle of service as it relates to the importance of the customer. This course discusses the difference between hospitality and service and outlines the four facets of high-quality customer service. Other topics covered are serviceprofit chain, suggestive selling, ensuring profit and ensuring consistent service value. Certification by NRAEF is required for completion of this course.

More than just a French term that few can pronounce correctly, the professional chef lives and dies by a good mise en place. Meaning ”everything in place,” this course will cover topics that will help prepare students for cooking/baking in a professional manner. Students will learn how to create prep lists, as well as developing the ability to plan and organize a day’s work.  Proper knife care and cuts are also covered in this course.

Cookies and breads, cakes and custards; these are a few of the areas students will be introduced to. Through a combination of lecture as well as hands-on experience, students gain an understanding of the how’s and why’s of the commercial bakery.

This course combines lecture, demonstration and student participation in order to develop an understanding of the composition of various foods and the correct preparation methods with a focus on classic techniques. Purchasing quality food products, proper storage, service techniques and menu planning are also discussed.

This course covers the causes and prevention of foodborne illnesses.  Sanitation and safe food handling from the workers’, customers’, and supervisors’ point of view are discussed.  NRAEF ServSafe Food Protection Manager Certification is required for completion of this course.

Applied mathematical operations used to increase or decrease standard recipe yields, calculate food costs, convert recipe units of measure and calculate portion costs, as well as menu prices.

This course trains participants to provide first aid, CPR, and the use of an automated external defibrillator (AED). Students must complete the hands-on skill session. This class is offered for credit as a Pass/No Pass course.

Provides a foundation for gaining the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for college success. Students will learn to make a successful transition to higher education by setting up a pattern of success that will last the rest of their lives. Students will define goals and develop thinking skills, learning strategies and personal qualities essential to both academic and career success. Please note: Students who have served active military duty (excluding basic training and AIT) may be exempt from the Student Success course. Student must provide a copy of DD214 or other official military documentation to the registrar for verification.

Earn your toque pleats by learning the many different ways to cook an egg, along with all of the other breakfast foods. Breakfast cookery helps develop speed in the kitchen, while allowing quality to remain the focus.

Consistently preparing high quality food in large quantities is key to the success of any foodservice establishment’s banquet or catering operations. Roasts and steaks, soups and sauces, composed salads and much more will be covered in this course. On-site catering events including plated dinners and receptions will also take place as part of the educational aspect of this course.

Develop practical baking and pastry skills. Baking and decorating cakes as well as quick breads and yeast breads. Prepare a variety of desserts from aebleskivers to zeppoli.

The backbone of fine dining is presentation. This course will outline the different aspects of running the front of house in a fine dining operation; also covered will be the roles of server, maître d, and pantry chef.

This course is designed to prepare students for the many rewards and challenges of restaurant management including the ”people side” of management. Effective communications, establishing harassment free workplaces, and building successful teams are three major areas of concentration. Certification by NRAEF is required for completion of this course.

Nutrition is the science of the nutrients in food and how they maintain the body. Students will learn the function of food ingredients and the aesthetic (flavor, texture and aroma) profiles of food to create dishes that are both creative and delicious. How people taste food and increased awareness of nutritional standards and guidelines are the basis for study of proteins fats and other lipids, carbohydrates and vitamins, minerals and water.

Involves financial practices of a food service operation. Topics include budgeting, profit and loss statements, managing accounts receivable and accounts payable, and pricing. Certification by NRAEF is required for completion of this course.

The bakery and pastry shop are responsible for the first and last impression on the diner. Hand-formed artisan breads and spreads, as well as decadent plated desserts. Prepare desserts will be based on current menu requirements, as well as featured dessert. Various layered and stacked cakes and decorating techniques covered.

The classics are the foundation upon which all other culinary skills are developed. This course will allow the student to develop their abilities in the on-campus restaurant, the Oak Room, using classic cooking techniques such as braising and sautéing.

Planning and costing dishes to be featured in our Chef’s Café. Placing orders, checking and receiving deliveries. Demonstration cooking, as well as helping give guidance and direction to fellow students. 

Sample different regional cuisines from around the world. Asian cuisines, African cuisines, European and Oceanic cuisines, along with the Cuisines of the Americas will all be visited. 

One of the most exciting and challenging parts of any chef’s job is planning a menu. Chefs have limitless ideas, but it takes careful thought and foresight to pick out the ones that have potential. Students will use concepts learned to develop menus that are put to action in CA 260 Restaurant Concepts.

Beef stew that still has the flavor of a medium rare steak. Or ice cream frozen at -320? F. This course allows students to work with new equipment and techniques like using a hot water bath to make a memorable beef stew or liquid nitrogen for the ice cream. During this semester the Oak Room on-campus restaurant will serve modernist cuisine and modernized classics. 

Develop leadership skills with the help of a chef instructor. Take what you learned in Hospitality Management and put it to use in real life. Each student Sous Chef will take on the role of kitchen supervisor to allow for building real-world skill in various settings. 

Almost everybody has an idea for a restaurant. This course is designed to allow students the ability to see that dream come to life (sort of ). Using menus they create in CA 240 Menu Planning, students will develop a concept, fine dining or bistro, gastro pub or New York deli and open a pop-up style restaurant in the Oak Room space.

This course will cover a wide variety of topics from charcuterie and butchery to chocolate and sugar decorations. With a combination of lecture and lab, students are introduced to many areas not covered in depth in other courses.

This course is designed to prepare students for the many rewards and challenges of restaurant management including the ”people side” of management. Effective communications, establishing harassment free workplaces, and building successful teams are three major areas of concentration. Certification by NRAEF is required for completion of this course.

Nutrition is the science of the nutrients in food and how they maintain the body. Students will learn the function of food ingredients and the aesthetic (flavor, texture and aroma) profiles of food to create dishes that are both creative and delicious. How people taste food and increased awareness of nutritional standards and guidelines are the basis for study of proteins fats and other lipids, carbohydrates and vitamins, minerals and water.